Dr. Teeth
Dr. Teeth is the leader and keyboardist from the Electric Mayhem Band on The Muppet Show. He is a green humanoid arm puppet. His first appearance was in the Muppet Show Pilot where he did a musical number with the Electric Mayhem. He was first performed by Jim Henson. He first appeared in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence in 1975, and had a prominent role in Muppet productions until Henson's death in 1990. Dr. Teeth is green-skinned and red-haired with, as his name suggests, a large grinning mouth of teeth, including one gold tooth on his upper jaw. He wears a scruffy beard, a fur vest, a striped shirt, and a floppy purple top hat, though during the 1980s he switched to wearing a black leather vest. He also wears a pair of sunglasses which consist only of an upper half, suggesting eyelids at rest for a laid-back appearance, but which can be flung back at a moment's notice to telegraph shock or excitement. He has very long arms so additional puppeteers are required to guide them; this design enabled Henson to work the Dr. Teeth puppet while another performer acted as Dr. Teeth's "hands" in order to play the keyboard. Dr. Teeth has been less involved in recent Muppet productions due to Jim Henson's death. Since then, he was performed by John Kennedy until 2005, when the role was assumed by Bill Barretta so that Kennedy could start performing Floyd Pepper after the departure of Jerry Nelson, Floyd's original performer. He has also appeared in all of the Muppet movies, from his prominent roles in The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan, to his much smaller, often non-speaking roles in The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets From Space. Dr. Teeth also appeared in The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. He did not speak in either of the films, due to Jim Henson's death. He was seen in both playing the keyboard with the Electric Mayhem. Palisades Toys also released an action figure of Dr. Teeth with his keyboard and hat and also an Exclusive Action Figure released at Wizard World. Trivia *Dr. Teeth's look was inspired by jazz keyboardist Dr. John. Henson's original sketch for the character appears in the book Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles. Michael Frith then made a more refined, color sketch of the character, with the heading "Leon 'Doctor' Eltonjohn Dontshoot (the Piano Player)" -- adding the influence of Elton John (and possibly Leon Russell) to the character. Dr. Teeth's creative vocabulary is a direct nod to Dr. John. *While Dr. Teeth usually has live hands, his hands were originally rod hands in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. The rod arms would occasionally be used on The Muppet Show. Also, the live hands version has 5 fingers on each hand, while the rod arm version has four on each hand. Casting History *Jim Henson - The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975) to The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990) *John Kennedy - Muppets on Location: Days of Swine and Roses (1991), Muppet Treasure Island video game (1996), Muppets From Space (1999), Muppet Race Mania video game (2000), Muppet Party Cruise video game (2003), We Are Family music video (2005) *Bill Barretta - The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) to Present *Victor Yerrid - Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony Episode 9 (2005) Filmography *''The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence'' *''Julie Andrews: My Favorite Things'' *''The Mike Douglas Show'' *''The Muppet Show'' **episode 102 (At the Dance) **episode 103 ("Willkommen") **episode 104 ("Sunny") **episode 106 ("Money") **episode 110 ("Love Ya to Death", "Sweet Tooth Jam") **episode 114 ("A Nice Girl Like Me") **episode 116 ("Tenderly") **episode 118 ("Lazybones") **episode 120 (At the Dance) **episode 123 **episode 124 ("Mr. Bassman") **episode 201 ("Lullaby of Birdland") **episode 202 (Chopin's "Polonaise in A Flat") **episode 208 **episode 209 ("New York State of Mind") **episode 211 ("Don't Blame the Dynamite") **episode 213 (Boccherini's "Minuet in A Major") **episode 214 ("Crocodile Rock", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart") **episode 215 (Talk Spot: "Bye Bye Blackbird", "You're the One") **episode 216 ("It Don't Mean a Thing") **episode 218 ("That Old Black Magic") **episode 220 (At the Dance) **episode 222 ("Cheesecake") **episode 301 **episode 302 **episode 305 **episode 308 **episode 311 **episode 315 ("Mack the Knife") **episode 317 ("America") **episode 320 ("Lady Be Good") **episode 407 ("Mama Don't Allow", "How High the Moon") **episode 414 **episode 415 ("Walk Right Back") **episode 419 ("a Little Help From My Friends]") **episode 420 **episode 424 ("Last Time I Saw Him") **episode 504 ("Barnyard Boogie") **episode 305 **episode 506 (as the Cheshire Cat: "When You're Smiling" Medley, "We're Off to See the Wizard") **episode 510 ("Rockin' Robin") **episode 511 ("Loves Me Like a Rock") **episode 513 ("Poison Ivy") **episode 517 ("When the Saints Go Marching In") *''Julie Andrews: One Step Into Spring'' *''The Muppet Movie'' *''The Muppets Go Hollywood'' *''The Great Muppet Caper'' *''I Love Liberty'' *''The Muppets Take Manhattan'' *''Rock Music with the Muppets'' *''The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years'' *''A Muppet Family Christmas'' *''The Jim Henson Hour'' **episode 107 **episode 108 *''The Muppets at Walt Disney World'' *''The Muppet Christmas Carol'' *''Muppet Treasure Island'' *''Muppets From Space'' *''Muppet Race Mania'' *''The Muppet Show Live'' *''It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie'' *''Muppets Party Cruise'' *''The Muppets' Wizard of Oz'' *"We Are Family" music video *CanTeen "Bandanana" commercial *''Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony'' (Episode 9) *''A Green and Red Christmas'' *''Studio DC: Almost Live'' *''A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa'' *''D23 Expo'' *Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. ommercials *Virmup **"Bohemian Rhapsody" *''Christmas in Rockefeller Center'' *''America's Funniest Home Videos'' *"The Muppet Show Theme music video" *''The Muppets'' Book appearances *''The Muppet Show Book'' *''It's The Muppet Show!'' *''The Comic Muppet Book'' *''Muppets at Sea'' *''Jim Henson's Muppet Show Bill'' *''The Muppets Take Manhattan'' *''Cleopigtra'' *''The Phantom of the Muppet Theater'' *''The Muppet Show Comic Book'' *''Muppet Robin Hood'' *''The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson'' *''Muppet Peter Pan'' *''Muppet Snow White'' Teeth, Dr. Teeth, Dr.